Legislators to face off in milk-chugging contest July 9

WHAT:

To celebrate and raise awareness about North Carolina’s dairy industry, the N.C. dairy industry and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will sponsor a milk-chugging contest for state legislators.

WHEN:

Wednesday, July 9, at 1 p.m.

WHERE:

North Portico of the Legislative Building

WHO:

The contest is open to elected officials, agribusiness lobbyists and representatives of the dairy industry and other commodity groups. Rep. Dewey Hill and Sen. Bob Atwater, who chair the General Assembly’s agriculture committees, will lead their teams in competition. Other teams are welcome to participate but must consist of three people. The first-place team in the legislative chugging contest will receive $300 for its selected charity, and the second-place team will receive $200 for its charity of choice.

MOREINFO:

North Carolina has 296 dairy farms with 48,000 milk cows that produced about 119 million gallons of milk, according to the latest statistics. The N.C. dairy industry generates an estimated $500 million in economic activity and $139 million in cash receipts from the sale of milk by dairy farmers.